The goddess stood silently at the entrance.
Hestia bit her lower lip, her eyes clouded with conflict and gloom.
Her complexion looked terrible.
"Hestia...?"
Yuto called to her somewhat hesitantly.
The indecision on her face visibly deepened when she heard him.
For a moment, it seemed as though she might explain what had happened.
In the end, however, she said nothing.
Hestia quietly walked over to the counter and sat down.
After giving her head a small shake, as though trying to clear away whatever thoughts were troubling her, she looked toward Yuto.
"Give me some alcohol."
Yuto paused briefly.
He looked at her for another moment before deciding not to ask anything yet and went to get it for her.
"Here."
He placed the glass in front of her.
Hestia immediately grabbed it and drained the entire thing in a single gulp.
A faint blush quickly spread across the goddess's cheeks.
"What happened?"
Yuto finally asked with concern.
"N-Nothing... Nothing happened..."
Hestia's answer was anything but convincing.
If anything, the evasive way she spoke only made it even more obvious that she was hiding something.
Seeing her reaction, Yuto could only sigh inwardly.
Why had everyone been like this lately?
Whenever he asked what was wrong, none of them wanted to tell him anything.
The thought had barely crossed his mind when he suddenly realized something else.
There had been an oddly large number of customers coming to the restaurant recently for the sole purpose of drinking away their troubles.
And all of them had been girls.
Rias.
Reiko.
And now Hestia, sitting directly in front of him with a miserable expression and an empty glass.
Yuto could not help wondering.
Was this some kind of seasonal depression that only affected women?
"Are you really going to keep bottling everything up?"
Compared with how cautiously he had approached Rias and Reiko, Yuto was considerably more relaxed and straightforward with Hestia.
"You probably won't find a solution just sitting there brooding over it. Why not tell us what happened and let everyone think of something together?"
He had hesitated to pry too deeply into the problems troubling Rias and Reiko, but when it came to Hestia, he did not feel nearly as restrained.
The main reason was probably the impression the goddess had gradually left on him.
She was simply too much of an idiot.
Trying to be excessively cautious and delicate around such an easygoing idiot goddess somehow felt stranger than simply speaking his mind.
The moment Hestia heard him, irritation immediately appeared across her face.
That was another major difference between her and Rias or Reiko.
Those two tended to lick their wounds somewhere private, then force themselves to smile once they returned in front of other people.
Hestia, on the other hand, wore nearly every emotion directly on her face.
When she was happy, everyone knew it.
When she was miserable, everyone knew that too.
There was almost none of the refined dignity or mysterious grace people might normally associate with the word goddess.
If anything, Hestia often behaved more like a child who had never quite grown up.
She might not shine with the polished brilliance of a carefully cut gemstone...
But she possessed the warmth and liveliness of a flame dancing freely in the night.
After her brief burst of irritation, hesitation and conflict once again returned to Hestia's expression.
She thought about Yuto's suggestion for several seconds.
Then...
She still decided not to say anything.
"Hmph! You're overthinking it, Kamisaka. I'm not bottling up anything!"
Hestia stubbornly lifted her chin.
The arrogant little expression on her face made her resemble a peacock deliberately throwing a tantrum.
Yuto sighed helplessly.
"Fine, have it your way. Honestly, there's no dealing with you."
He spread his hands.
Judging from Hestia's expression, she clearly had absolutely no intention of explaining what had happened.
In that case, there was little point continuing to push her.
For now, Yuto gave up.
His surrender visibly relieved Hestia.
Apparently, even the goddess had been worried that he would continue pressing her until she finally cracked.
"More alcohol! More alcohol!"
The moment she realized she was safe from further questioning, she immediately began urging him to refill her glass.
"Yes, yes."
Yuto indulged her and poured another drink.
Hestia continued drinking one glass after the other.
Then another.
With every drink, the flush across her cheeks grew noticeably deeper.
Before long, even her body had begun swaying faintly atop the stool.
Yuto could not help becoming concerned for her.
"Are you really going to be able to get home after drinking this much?"
Hestia hiccupped.
Then she gave him a foolish smile.
"Of course! Don't let how I look fool you. I'm not drunk at all!"
Yuto rubbed his forehead.
Yep.
She was definitely drunk.
Otherwise, she would not be smiling that stupidly.
"All right, that's enough. No more drinking. If you keep going, you won't even be able to walk home."
Yuto made the decision for her.
He took the glass away and deliberately placed it somewhere beyond her reach.
Hestia immediately became indignant.
"Hey! Hey! I am a great goddess!"
She planted both hands on her hips and pointed dramatically at him.
"Kamisaka should show some respect toward divinity!!!"
Her posture radiated tremendous authority.
Or at least, Hestia clearly believed it did.
Yuto sighed again.
She was even drunker than he had thought.
"Idiot."
He curled one finger and flicked the goddess directly on the forehead.
Thunk.
Hestia immediately clutched her head.
Despite being a goddess, while living normally in the mortal world, her body still reacted much like a human body did.
Pain remained pain.
"Ow!"
After drinking so much, even her voice had taken on a strange resemblance to some tiny animal complaining after being bullied.
Soft.
Unintentionally whiny and irritatingly cute.
It was cute enough that Yuto almost felt tempted to flick her forehead again.
"Kamisaka! You—"
"By the way, where's Sakura?"
Just as Hestia was preparing to erupt, Yuto casually redirected her attention with a question.
The goddess froze.
It was almost as though someone had flipped a switch inside her.
The anger vanished from her face.
In an instant, Hestia became every bit as dejected as she had been when she first entered the restaurant.
Yuto's thoughts stirred.
Several things that had happened recently involving Hestia suddenly connected in his mind.
A vague suspicion gradually began taking shape.
Perhaps the reason Hestia was in such a terrible mood tonight...
Had something to do with the gods' meeting Loki had mentioned before.
"Sakura's already asleep." Hestia spoke quietly.
Her drunken, unfocused eyes remained fixed on the counter.
Confusion and unease drifted through them.
Yuto frowned slightly.
"Sakura doesn't know you came here?"
"Mm."
Hestia lowered her voice even further.
"I waited until she fell asleep before I came out."
If Yuto had only been guessing before, he was now fairly certain.
Sneaking out only after Sakura fell asleep meant that whatever Hestia was worried about had something to do with the girl.
And Loki had explicitly warned them before that several gods intended to try taking Sakura away from Hestia at the next gods' meeting.
Connecting the two was not difficult.
"The gods' meeting is happening soon, isn't it?" Yuto asked.
Hestia's pupils visibly contracted.
Her entire body tensed.
Then, just as quickly, all the strength seemed to leave her.
"Mm."
She answered quietly.
Yuto thought, 'I knew it.'
His guess had been right.
"I'm leaving! Sakura's still sleeping at home, so I need to get back early. See you, Kamisaka!"
Just as Yuto was preparing to ask more, Hestia suddenly jumped to her feet.
She hurriedly threw out those words and rushed toward the door.
The way she moved made it look almost as though she were fleeing from something.
Yuto watched her disappear through the entrance and remained momentarily speechless.
His brows drew together.
Hestia had clearly realized what he intended to ask and escaped before he could say it.
He sighed helplessly.
Dealing with such a stubborn and impulsive goddess really was exhausting.
"Looks like she has gotten herself into some trouble."
Gilgamesh, who had quietly watched the entire exchange, finally spoke.
Yuto nodded.
"What an utterly unreliable goddess."
The King of Heroes folded his arms, sounding genuinely dissatisfied.
"Are there no genuinely dependable goddesses anywhere?"
Yuto smiled helplessly.
"Maybe there are in other worlds."
"Hmph! One can only hope."
Gilgamesh scoffed.
"These so-called goddesses seem unreliable regardless of which world they come from. One after another, they somehow prove themselves less dependable than ordinary humans."
"Well, that depends entirely on who you compare them to."
Yuto smiled.
"Hestia is actually pretty decent by comparison."
His mind immediately went to Aqua.
The moment he remembered everything that goddess had done since first appearing in the restaurant, his expression became awkward.
That was what a truly unreliable goddess looked like.
"Oh?"
Gilgamesh immediately noticed the implication hidden in his words.
"From the way you put it, Kamisaka, have you encountered a goddess even worse than this one?"
"Worse...?"
Yuto hesitated.
"Uh... I suppose you could say that."
Calling Aqua terrible...
Honestly, it was not exactly unfair.
Gilgamesh's curiosity was immediately piqued.
A sharp smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
"A goddess capable of earning such an assessment from you?"
He folded his arms with obvious interest.
"This king is somewhat curious."
Yuto waved one hand dismissively.
"No. You really shouldn't be."
He looked completely serious.
"If you actually met her, you'd probably be disappointed."
If this arrogant King of Heroes ever met Aqua...
Yuto was one hundred percent certain they would clash.
On one side was an absurdly proud man obsessed with preserving the dignity and authority of his kingship.
On the other was a carefree, fearless, airheaded goddess with absolutely no idea when she should stop talking.
There was no conceivable way those two could get along peacefully.
Time gradually passed.
The barbecue being prepared for Gilgamesh inside the kitchen was nearly ready, while the hands of the clock slowly approached one in the morning.
Without anyone particularly noticing, a new day had already begun.
The restaurant itself was unusually quiet at this hour.
Outside, however, Ichinose Street was entering its liveliest period.
Men who carried themselves stiffly and properly beneath the daylight now wandered freely under the cover of darkness and colorful neon lights, their restrained daytime expressions replaced by uninhibited smiles.
They moved through the nightlife district like ghosts haunting a world of indulgence and pleasure.
What they sought beneath those lights was the intoxicating satisfaction of the flesh.
While Yuto continued chatting casually with Gilgamesh and the others, the restaurant door opened once again.
Another customer had arrived.
And this one genuinely surprised him.
It was Sakura.
Only moments ago, Hestia had clearly told him that the little girl was already asleep.
"At last!"
Gilgamesh immediately looked toward her.
"My student, why haven't you come to study under this king lately?"
His expression was a strange mixture of pleasure and displeasure.
His tone sounded almost as though he were interrogating her, yet the slight upward curve at the corner of his lips completely betrayed how pleased he actually was to see her.
Sakura respectfully bowed.
"I'm very sorry, Sensei. Lately, Goddess-neechan has been holding me while she sleeps, so I haven't been able to slip away and come see you..."
The little girl scratched her head sheepishly.
Gilgamesh chuckled and waved one hand.
"Very well. Since there was a reason, this king will forgive you for now."
"Thank you, Sensei."
Sakura gave him a sweet smile before walking over to the counter.
Yuto looked at the apparently innocent little girl with a strange expression.
"Sakura... Hestia was just here. Did you know?"
Sakura climbed onto one of the stools.
Then she nodded.
Yuto stared at her.
"Then... you were pretending to be asleep?"
After thinking about it for a moment, he more or less understood what must have happened.
Sakura nodded again.
"Mm."
Yuto continued staring at her perfectly innocent face as she openly admitted to faking sleep.
For several seconds, he genuinely did not know what to say.
What exactly had happened to the pure little girl he remembered?
And more importantly...
Hestia, are you really so hopeless that you can't even tell when Sakura is pretending to sleep?